Wash. snowmobiler killed in Montana avalanche

KALISPELL, Mont. — Officials in northwestern Montana say two Washington state snowmobilers were caught in an avalanche that killed one of them.

The Flathead County sheriff’s office says the slide occurred at 4 p.m. Monday about 12 miles east of Kalispell in the Lost Johnny drainage of the South Fork of the Flathead River.

Undersheriff Jordan White says 33-year-old Charles John Dundon III of Connell, Wash., triggered the slide as he rode his snowmobile across an open slope. Dundon and another man were caught in the slide, but the second man wasn’t buried. (Connell is in Eastern Washington, southeast of Othello.)

After searching for Dundon, the second man rode out to Hungry Horse, where he called 911.

The victim was located using the signal from his transceiver. His body was recovered and taken out of the area late Monday night.

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